Safety-brake appliance



A. A. CLINE.

SAFETY BRAKE APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1921.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

A- A: CLINE- SAFETY BRAKE APPLIANCE. Y

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. 1921. I 1,438,426. Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

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flu enter AZZ A. LZL' Ze r I i A I A. AL CLINE.

SAFETY BRAKE APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1921.

. .Patent ed Dec.12,1922.

3 SHEEIS-SHEET 3.

AZZ A. UZL'Iw v l atentecl Dec. 12, 1.922.

RWMTED S TATES AZL A. CLINE, OF BEGKLEY, VIRGINIA.

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Application filed. May 20, 1921.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AZVL A. CLINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beckley, in the county of Raleigh and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Brake Appliances, of which. the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in brake mechanisms and more particularly to brakes for application to use in connection with mine cars or elevators, and theprimary object of the invention is to provide a safety apparatus adapted to be automatically actuated upon the release or braking of the cable which operates the car or elevator.

It is a well known fact that many accidents have occurred in connection with the use of mine cars due to the breaking of the cable drawing the same and the failure to provide an emergency brake apparatus. This is not only true in connection with mine cars but is also true with passenger and elevator cars which travel vertically or on inclines and are drawn by cables. A braking apparatus which will positively stop the downward movement of the car upon the breaking of the cable drawing or holding the same will be extremely valuable and save the loss of many lives and damage to property.

My improved apparatus contemplates the provision of means in connection with the car whereby upon the release or damage to the cable drawing the same, said means will positively engage ratchets on the sides of the track over which the car is being drawn to prevent the downward movement of said car.

A further object of the invention resides in providing in connection with mine cars and the like, pivoted and weighted arm sections which under normal conditions are in ineffective position and which upon the release or damage to the cable drawing the car will be lowered for engagement with ratchet bars, preventing downward movement of said car.

Still another object of the invention resides in providing a device which is simple and durable in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and onewhich will be very-efficient in use.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter referred to Serial No. 471,084.

and more particularly pointed out in the specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a plan View of my improved apparatus as applied to use in connection with mine cars;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing parts broken'away, and also showing the braking mechanism in effective or locked position;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the device when in position as shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5'is a transverse section through the device as shown on the line 55 of Fig. 2; and a V Fig. 6 is an elevation of a slightly modified form of the invention showing the same applied tense in connection with an elevator.

In describing the invention I shall refer to the drawings in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which 1 designates-tracks supported on an inclined surfaceover which the car 2 is adapted to be operated. For convenience I have disclosed in the drawings a mine car,'the same belng adapted to bedrawn over the tracks by means of a cable 3, as is usual in devices of this character. It is a. well known fact that cables drawing cars over inclines such as I have just described I often become severed and the car is released to run backward down the incline causing considerable damage to life and property. To avoid any possibility of suchaccidents, I have provided animproved safety brake appliance which is contingent for its operation upon the severing ofthe cableso that when said cable is broken, the car will be prevented from running down the incline.

To this end the car 2 has pivoted thereto the frame sections 4, the outer bars 5 of which are notched or provided otherwise with teeth on their under faces and adapted to be engaged with the teeth on ratchet bars 6 extending along the outer sides of the tracks 1. The bars 5 are provided on their upper faces with weights 7, the normal tendency of which is to force the frame sections downwardly so that the teeth of the bars 5 may be engaged with the teeth of the ratchet bars 6.

I have provided a means whereby these frame sections will be held in raised position when the car is being drawn up the incline under normal conditions. To this end a pair of pivoted levers 8 and 9 are carried on each side of the mine car, the upper ends of said levers being connected together by means of a link 10. The lower ends of the levers 8 and 9 are curved as shown at 11 and engaged with the under faces of the laterally extending bars of the frame sections at, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawings.

A cable 12 is provided which has its ends engaged as at 13 to the links 10 adjacent their connection with the levers 9, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, and this cable extends over a pair ofrollers 14 carried at the forward end of the mine car adjacent the side edges thereof, and said cable is then engaged with the end of the traction cable 3.

It will be seen from this construction that when the cable 3 is drawn, the cable 12 will also be drawn so as to draw the link 10 and the levers 8 and'9 forwardly to a position as shown-in Fig. 2 and as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. This position causes the frame sections 4, through the medium of the curved ends 11 of the levers, to be held in raised position as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, so that the teeth of the bars 5 escape the teeth of the ratchet bars 6, allowin said car to be freely drawn over the tracks. However, should the cable 3 be broken or severed in its length, or otherwise released, the weights 7 will cause the bars 5 to be lowered to a position as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 so that the teeth of said bars will engage the teeth of the ratchet bars 6, thus preventing the downward and rearward movement of the car. It will thus be seen that 1 have provided an improved emergency brake appliance which will positively prevent the movement rearwardly and downwardly of a mine car on an incline when the traction cable has become broken.

In Fig. 6 l have shown a slightly moditied form of the invention wherein my device is shown applied to use in connection with elevator cars. In this view the car proper is designated as 15 and is adapted to drawn through the shaft, (not shown), by means of a cable 16. Along the sides of the shaft are provided ratchet bars 17 and slidably mounted in the sides of the elevator car are the additional ratchet bars 18. The teeth of the ratchet bars 17 are adapted for engagement with the teeth of the ratchet bars 18 under certain conditions, and in order to force the bars 18 outwardly I have provided the coil spring members 19 which are supported in the car between the stop members 20 and the inner faces of the ratchet bars 18.

Fulcrumed on vertical bars 21 of the elevator are pairs of angularly bent levers 22, the upper ends of which are connected together by means of links 28. The opposite or lower ends of the levers 22 are connected with the sliding ratchet bars 18 by means of links The extreme upper ends of the uppermost pair of levers 22 are connected with the cable 16 by means of an additional connecting cable 525. Thus, it will be seen that under normal conditions the ratchet bars 18 are held inwardly against the tension of the coil springs 19. Should the cable 16 become broken or otherwise released, the tension of the cable 25 would be released and the springs 19 will force the ratchet bars 18 outwardly so that the teeth thereof will engage the teeth of the ratchet bars 17 of the elevator shaft, thus preventing the dropping of the car.

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improved safety brake appliance, the operation thereof will be readily understood and it will be seen that 1 have provided a simple, inexpensive and eflicient means for carrying out the objects of the invention,

While I have particularly described the elements best-adapted to perform the functions set forth, it is obvious that various changes in the form, proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the principles of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is:

1. In combination with tracks and ratchet bars extending therealong and adjacent thereto; of a car movable on said tracks, frame sections pivoted to said car and we tending laterally therebeyond, weighted ratchet members carried on said frame sec tions adapted for engagement with said ratchet bars when said frame sections are in lowered position, pairs of leversfulcrumed on said car and having their inner ends curved to contact with portions of the frame sections to raise the latter when said levers are moved forwardly, connecting links between said pairs of levers, a traction cable,

and means connecting said traction cable and said links whereby to normally retain said said levers in forward position and correspondingly retain the ratchet members in raised position.

2. in combination with tracks and ratchet bars extending therealong and adjacent thereto, of a car movable on said tracks, frame sections pivoted to said car and extending laterally therebeyond, weighted ratchet members carried on said frame sections adapted for engagement with said ratchet bars'when said frame sections are in a lowered position, and means pivoted to side of said car for holding the weighted ratchet members out of engagement with the ratchet bars when a pull is exerted on the car. 7

3. In combination with tracks and ratchet bars extending thereal'ong and adjacent thereto, of a car movable on said track,

frame sections pivoted to said car and eX- is being exerted on the ear and means for tending laterally therebeyond, ratchet memcausing the ratchet members to move into 10 hers carried on said frame sections adapted engagement with the ratchet bars when the for engagement With said ratchet bars when cable drawing the car is parted or when the said frame sections are in a lowered position, pull on the car is left.

and means pivoted to sides of said car for In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. holding the ratchet members out of engagement with the ratchet bars when a pull AZL A. CLINE. 

